Apparently taking note of the Playboy Mansion’s impressive sale price, the current owner of the storied Beverly House is setting his sights high too, listing the former Beverly Hills estate of William Randolph Hearst for $195 million.
Financier Leonard M. Ross has raised the price a full $30 million from its last listing back in 2007. Originally built for banker Milton Getz, the 20,000-square-foot main house sits on 6.25 acres adjacent to the Beverly Hills Hotel and has served as a setting for movies including The Bodyguard and The Godfather—as well as the 1953 honeymoon of Jackie and John F. Kennedy.
The Westside home features an H shape dreamt up in the ‘20s by architect Gordon Kaufmann—known for his work on the Hoover Dam—and sits behind a motor court with a statue-lined fountain.
All told, the estate’s 3 separate mansions include an astounding 50,000 square feet of interior space, with paneled walls, arched ceilings, a living room that doubles as a movie theater, a two-story library, a loggia-equipped 50-foot entry hall, a billiard room with herringbone patterned floors and an astounding 30 bedrooms (counting staff quarters) and 40 bathrooms.
The property also features two ponds, a number of separate loggias, a standout reflecting pool headed by a fountain and surrounded by curling, well-manicured hedges. And no $200 million estate would be complete without its requisite swimming pool and lighted tennis court.
Ross has held onto the home for almost forty years, expanding the house by 20,000 square feet during his ownership. In 2013, it was offered as a $600,000-a-month lease, and has reportedly been whisper-listed intermittently since last being offered to the public.